วันเสาร์ที่ 11 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2556

MOE Minister giving interview after Thungsong-Bangkok Train Ride

(07-05-2013)

On“Train Systems”“Last night (May 1,2013) I took the train because I needed to travel from Trang to HuaHin
and there were no other better transportation options available. I
boarded the train at about 10.30 pm and found out later that my program
at HuaHin had been cancelled, so I took the train straight on to Bangkok and arrived there at 11.00 am. It took quite a long time. I have to admit that the train system in
Thailand is underdeveloped. Its services have not been improved for a
long time. The locomotives are at least 25 years old. That is why not so
long ago, the cabinet made a resolution to purchase a number of new
locomotives. You can see that taking a train from Thungsong
to Bangkok took more than 13 hours. Traveling by train should be much
faster than that. All of these delays were caused by the ineffectiveness
of the system such as time spent waiting to shunt. The government has just set up a new
train track system, which will be beneficial for the transportation
system in Thailand as a whole. More space to carry cargo and new trains
that run at faster speeds are provided for people to choose from. I
spoke to an officer of the State Railway of Thailand and he said that
the numbers of people using the train services exceed the capacity of
the trains to carry them. Train schedules do not continue for 24 hours a
day. There are only a number of trains leaving the main station but
there are long lines of people waiting to board them every day. The train is still in high demand in our
country, therefore, if the train system is developed and improved so
that trains can take people to their destinies faster, it will become an
even more popular and inexpensive choice of transportation. I believe
that the Thailand 2020 Project that the government has started will
bring great development to the rail system.”

Progress of High Speed Rail Project

“Mr. ChadchartSitthiphan, the Minister of Transportations
and Communications, is working on this and there has been a lot of
progress made. Many rail systems in Bangkok have been constructed,
especially the Red Line. The State Railway of Thailand is still using
diesel electric locomotives on the old tracks because the whole electric
system is incomplete, but once the high-speed trains are ready to go on
service, the people will have many more choices of train on which to
travel. These trains will be very convenient and fast, almost like air
freight. The trains will run through the middle of the city. Actually,
it will be even better than using airplanes when you calculate the time
and compare the price. It will be a safer way of traveling, too. People
are afraid that the prices will be too high and that ordinary people
will not be able to afford it, but I believe that the Ministry of Transportations
and Communications will carefully consider the price structure. They
will make sure that the system is affordable for most people. We really
want everyone to have access to this service.”

MOE preparing human resources for this new train services

“We are usually assigned to prepare human
resources whenever there are new development projects. For the coming
new rail services, we need a lot of people to work in the system.
Vocational and academic institutions must prepare them. We have
discussed and speculated on the types of personnel suitable for
different areas. The government will not only produce the workforce, but
will also consider which industries to develop in order to support this
new public transportation project so that we don’t have to waste money
on foreign currency. We want more income and more business opportunities
for Thai people.”

2. On“Corruption in the Teacher Assistant Examination”Information expected from the Department of Special Investigation:“The DSIis
processing this criminal case and we are going to use the information
from the case for investigating and deciding on the consequences for
those who passed the exam by cheating. So far, we have received some
information from DSI for our consideration and it was presented to OTEPC at the last meeting.”“I assure you that this is not a phony
fight. No one will be protected. We are working through the process in
the most straightforward way. Any MOE personnel involved in this
corruption will certainly be punished. As for the offenders outside the
MOE, the Department of Special Investigation will find out whether or
not they have any criminal liability."